Accelerate
by bohemian-rhapsodi
Summary: Jim Kirk certainly should have known better than to drink the alien water, but when had simple logic stopped him before? The result: a most eventful shore leave. Shamelessly K/S, derived from TOS "Wink of an Eye", one-shot.


**Accelerate**

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**Spoiler Alert**: This story uses a concept from TOS 3, episode "Wink of an Eye". You don't need to see it to enjoy this one, but ye have been warned.

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**A/N, or Captain's Log**: This just floated into my mind after watching the episode, was written in less than a day, and was beta'd by the wonderful, amazing and superbly talented Gryffens. Hope you like the concept as much as I did!

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**Disclaimer**: Alas, Star Trek was conceived of decades before I was even born. It would therefore be highly illogical to claim it as my own, as much as I may desire it to be so.

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It really was a stunningly beautiful planet. The pine trees swayed in the cool breeze with a rustle of contentment, with a smooth blanket of needles under Jim's feet at he meandered across the ground. It would be perfect for shore leave, and the crew of the Enterprise were more than overdue on that score. Officially, they were investigating the deposits of minerals through the planet, but there was more than enough time to get some rest and relaxation in before they were shuffled onto their next assignment. There was no hurry whatsoever, and everyone was taken in by the gently undulating forest.

The scene of tranquillity was broken as Bones swore loudly, having stubbed the toe of his boot on a hidden root. Jim rolled his eyes in quiet amusement and cast his gaze around the landing party. Sulu and two ensigns were taking readings on some rocky outcrops ahead, Bones was still hopping on the spot to suppress the pain, and Spock was intently examining the insect life on the bark of a nearby tree.

The picture was complete when Jim looked at his First Officer; after all, it wouldn't be paradise if you were alone to enjoy it.

"Spock," Jim called, and the Vulcan straightened at the sound of his voice. "What've you got there?"

"It seems to be similar in most respects to the Terran cicada, Captain," He replied swiftly and scientifically. "A fascinating specimen."

Jim moved over and looked briefly at the creature before smiling widely at his friend's barely veiled enthusiasm. "We're here for minerals, but I think we can spare some canisters for your little friend here."

"No, Captain... I would not remove the insect." Spock said slowly.

Jim understood; this was its home, and to remove such a beautiful creature from its native habitat without good reason wasn't in Spock's nature. He was beginning to see this sensitive side to the ruthlessly logical Vulcan, but only because Spock was allowing him access. He felt privileged, almost guiltily so, for the honour of getting under Spock's carefully crafted shields.

Their relationship had blossomed, in more ways than one. They were more than friends, less than lovers, in the balance of culture and expectations, duty and desire. It was slow going, and Jim found that he enjoyed the courtship and the growth of relations. It held more meaning than anything he had attempted before, and he wondered whether it was his growing maturity or the uniqueness of his intentions with Spock that had prompted this change.

Right... back to work. These little meanders of thought really had to reined in... Flashing a quick smile at Spock, Jim tilted his head. "I might explore some more; there's a river nearby. Call me if they find anything."

Spock nodded in reply, and Jim was off with a spring in his step. He could hear the babbling of a brook up ahead, and he felt a thirst rise in his dry throat. As the trees thinned and the sun grew stronger, he came across the water, surging down the slope with a happy gurgle. He was openly smiling now, reminded of the pristine national parks he had visited on Earth. It was rather warm on the planet after the climate controlled Enterprise, so he tugged off his boots. He checked for life signs just in case he was an unwelcome visitor before wading slowly into the crystal water. Barefoot in the shallow creek, he scooped up a handful of water and took a long gulp.

It even tasted like home... no chemicals, no impurities. The last civilisation on the planet had died out a century ago, leaving only ruins in their absence. He closed his eyes and turned his face to the sun....

The rustling of the trees changed pitch suddenly, and he felt a moment of dizziness. His eyes flew open, and he instantly knew that something was wrong.

The water was sluggish around his ankles, tugging slowly like a river of syrup. The branches of the trees were bending slowly under the fingers of the wind, unnaturally slow.

What was happening?

He whipped out his communicator, leaving the creek and shaking the reluctant drops off his feet. "Spock, come in Spock." He ordered. Nothing. He checked the instrument, noting with surprise that there was no signal.

Screw it. He shoved the boots on his still damp feet and ran for it, back in Spock's direction and the direction of the landing party. He wasn't quite panicking, but he could feel his battle-mode warming up. The forest was now eerie, with every howl of the wind drawn out like it was being tortured and the fall of each needle taking an agonisingly long time.

Finally, he saw the familiar blue shirt of his Chief Medical Officer up ahead.

"Bones!" He cried out in relief. "Bones, have you noticed that-"

He hadn't turned around at Jim's call. In fact, he was hardly moving; like the trees, he had slowed to a glacial pace. He was in mid-blink, looking at his tricorder readings with a slight frown creasing the brow on his wide face.

"Bones," Jim groaned finally, flicking him on the ear like he used to, to get his attention when he was studying too intently on his medical manuals back in the Academy.

No reaction.

"Shit," He muttered. "This is kind of unusual..." Besides the fact that Bones was usually hyperactive, hypersensitive, and hypo-happy, he could never ignore Jim like that. Jim would usually be on the ground being restrained and lectured by now...

He turned on the spot, moving to the rocks that Sulu was examining. The other three crewmen were frozen too. He didn't even try to snap them out of it. Finally, he came across Spock, who seemed to be almost posing on the edge of the rocks, looking out onto the horizon in the classic hero pose. And damn did he pull it off well. Jim admired the sight for fully a minute before snapping out of it and scrambling up beside him.

"Hey, hey, Spock!" He tried hopefully. "Want to explain what the hell's happening?"

Spock merely twitched a finger, pressing a button on the tricorder. This movement took so long that Jim began getting bored just looking at the digit. He looked at where Spock's gaze was directed; out onto the sweeping forest and far-off plains. Even further for Jim's straining and weak human eyes, he could see the remains of the once-great city of this planet.

It was such a breathtaking sight that Jim almost forgot his predicament completely. Stuck in the moment with Spock, they both looked at the vista appreciatively.

Without thinking, he wrapped an arm around Spock's torso, holding his still warm Vulcan body close. Right now he didn't want to think of his dangerous situation; he just wanted Spock back with him, so that they could enjoy this moment together. Instead, he held him closer, thankful that his scent was still the same, and his eyes still shone brightly in the light of the midday sun.

**

**

Spock had climbed the outcrop to get a better concept of the lie of the land, quietly appreciating the view simultaneously. He adjusted the settings of the tricorder to scan for magnetic fluctuations, and then had a rare moment of stillness as the readout was being compiled.

He felt a strange tug at his waist, as though a belt had been tightened around him quickly and was released within a few seconds. He looked around in slight puzzlement, but there was no indication of any physical stimuli. Could it have been a strange wind current? No, it had seemed more solid than that...

"Commander Spock, have you seen Captain Kirk?" Sulu called up. "Bones has been looking for him, apparently."

"I have not seen the Captain for approximately ten point three minutes, Lieutenant Sulu," Spock replied in his even tones. "Has he tried the communicator?"

"He's not answering... wait," Sulu frowned as a message from Chekov came in, "They're not even getting his signal on the ship, sir. The Enterprise reports only five life signs on the surface."

Spock almost sighed at the inevitability of it all; of course it was the Captain that went missing. He was uncommonly attracted to danger, to the extreme (and rather secretive) aggravation of Spock.

"I believe the Captain's intention was to examine a river in close proximity. We will start searching there."

He thought again of the inexplicable pressure he had felt around his waist before nimbly leaping down the rock face.

**

**

Ten minutes later, and they were still looking for their elusive Captain. There was no sign of any struggle at the river, where they had traced his footprints to his last location which corresponded with the data from the ship. To all intents and purposes, Jim had simply vanished.

Spock took every possible reading he could, until he hit upon something that didn't correlate. The water seemed to contain more substances than its purity would suggest; it was some chemical agent, unknown on the tricorder, but in large enough proportion to prompt Spock's curiosity.

"Dr. McCoy." Bones was at his side in an instant, peering over his shoulder.

"Have you found something?" He asked.

"Possibly. Examine these readings, if you would." Spock handed him the tricorder, and Bones looked at it eagerly. Spock made a mental note to make sure the Doctor didn't compromise himself in his search for Jim; it was possible that he was devoted to his friend to the point of blindness.

"They are unusual, Spock; the laboratory should be able to account for them."

"I will beam up with a sample immediately." Spock decided. It made sense for the First Officer to be on the ship in a time of crisis, and there were ample crewmen on the surface looking for the Captain.

Bones began muttering about the mosquitoes, and Spock had to agree that they were most persistent. It was a faint buzzing which faded in and out; he had noticed it several times.

"Energize." He ordered Scotty, dematerialising almost instantly. The transport took 0.093 seconds longer than normal, and as he made his graceful way off the transporter pad, he asked Scotty about it.

"Aye, I noticed it too, sir- I'll check the circuits, or maybe the reintegrator. Did ye bring aboard anything unusual, at all?"

Spock was still thinking about the incident as he near-jogged to the primary laboratory of the ship- where a surprise was waiting for him.

**

**

My, but he was bored. There were only so many times Jim could yell at Bones or Spock and wave his arms before he gave it up as a hopeless case. He decided that the advantage of being able to yell at Bones without fear of reprisal was actually not enough to outweigh the disadvantages of his situation. He even went so far as to have a jog through the trees to expend some energy and waste some time; by the time he came back the search party had only just dispersed.

Spock had moved to the river, travelling at normal speed to Jim's accelerated life. As soon as the readings came onto the screen a pixel at a time, Jim cursed himself.

It was in the water! He'd rather thoughtlessly drunk alien water without scanning it, and this was presumably the result. He groaned out loud. "Bones, you've always warned me that this would happen. Don't eat that, don't touch that, and don't bloody have sex with that. Well, you were right. I can say that without you getting too smug, thankfully, but it doesn't change the fact that I was an idiot."

An indeterminable amount of time later, Spock began to glow with the strands of transport beams. Almost without thinking, Jim clung to Spock, not wanting his First Officer to leave without him. He would undoubtedly be the centre of any investigation they conducted into Jim's disappearance, so it was only logical to stay close. Besides, it felt nice to hold him close, and he'd take any excuse in the book to experience it.

Transporting at slow speed made Jim's hair stand on end. He had to squeeze his eyes shut against the blinding white that was an instantaneous flash to those going through normal beaming. His whole body began to tingle; not just his skin, but all his organs and bones seemed to be taken over by creeping static. It was all he could to do hold on to his solid anchor, Spock, and take comfort from that.

Eventually, they landed, and Jim sunk to the ground in relief. There was no way he was going through that again.

He guessed that Spock was heading for his science laboratory to look closer at the strange water. He had that much time to figure out how to communicate with him. Thankfully, he saw Spock's muscles in his legs preparing to run with the decorum that only a Vulcan could accomplish, so he wouldn't grow old waiting for him.

Talking was out of the question; unless he talked incredibly slowly, which would be difficult to sustain.

"See you in a minute," Jim said to Spock gently, wishing that he could at least have a twitch of the eyebrow in response. "Don't worry too much, I'm here. If I know where here is."

He went to pat him on the shoulder, and then decided to go for the full hug. After all, they didn't get to embrace each other in public; he might as well use the chance. It was like hugging a warm statue, and it was a sore point to Jim that he didn't get his customary squeeze back from the dark Vulcan.

He went to his room first, grabbing his old-fashioned paper notepad and a pen- before realising that the ink was running far too slowly to be of any use to him. It was semi-dependent on gravity, after all; he shook it experimentally, but it didn't flow any faster.

Pencil. He needed a pencil.

Twenty of his minutes later, and he was cursing whatever cruel world it was that no one on a starship had even one pencil. Everyone used datapads; you could write and wipe everything instantly. The convenience of technology had detracted from the beauty of normal stationary- or so Jim ruminated darkly. He probably wouldn't care under normal circumstances, but his perspective was rather skewed considering his situation. Some crewmembers were probably artistic, but could he really go through every berth in the ship and every drawer within until he found one?

He stopped dead outside the medical unit, an idea flashing through his head. He strode over to the tray of surgical tools, rooted around in it for a moment, and then came up holding the laser scalpel triumphantly. He'd carve it into the walls if he had to, but it seemed that his plan would work.

He had to test the theory, right? It was only logical...

He looked at the wall with an evil glint in his eye. He had a mind for mischief, after all, and promotion hadn't extinguished it in the slightest.

**

**

Spock stopped dead in his tracks when he got to his station, staring with unbelieving eyes at the wall opposite his worktable.

Hey, Spock. It's Jim.

As though Spock didn't notice; even written with seemed to be a laser scalpel, Jim's handwriting was instantly recognisable. His eyebrow shot up, and he began to hear the strange buzzing that they had attributed to the insect life on the planet's surface.

As he watched, another line of text appeared, as fast as Spock could blink.

I'm accelerated, from the alien water. Road Runner style.

Spock was about to question the strange reference to the Terran bird, but he was interrupted.

Never mind the above. Just know that five seconds in your time equates to about five minutes for me. Can you find an antidote from the sample, do you think?

Spock merely nodded, speeding it up so that Jim wouldn't have to wait so long for his response. How was this possible? How did he know that this was truth, that Jim was actually writing these strange messages? Anyone could forge handwriting, and...

He started to feel a strange pressure on his lips- like he had felt around his waist on the planet. Without thinking, he kissed back, and in that instant he could taste the invisible Jim, and he knew that it was all true. Suddenly, there was a flash of thought from Jim which almost overwhelmed his mind completely with its speed; nevertheless, he could translate it into the emotions of fondness and trust. The thoughts were undeniably Jim's, Spock knew, and it felt unbelievably good to share in his unique mind. He felt the tension drain out of him, knowing that he was safe and there was now only one course of action. The sensation on his lips soon passed, and he realised with a quick calculation that Jim had just spend approximately ten minutes if his time kissing him. His blood began to rise to his cheeks, but he shoved the sensation down in favour of returning to work.

He flipped open the communicator. "Bones, I have found the Captain. Please recall the search party and resume the normal routine of examining the planet. Spock out."

**

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Bones was eager to get to Spock so he could find out what had happened to the Captain, but he had to stop off quickly in sickbay. M'Benga had said that it was somewhat important, and the strange tone in his voice flagged the curiosity in Bones.

"Good, you're here," Bones said on arrival, seeing that M'Benga was stocking up on the anaesthetics. "What was the problem?"

M'Benga simply pointed, and he seemed to be trying to hide a smile. Bones turned to where he was indicating, at a blank wall-

No, not blank. Scrawled upon it was the simple message.

Bones,

Yankees do it better.

-JTK

He gaped at the wall like a suffocating fish, eyes bulging. Soon he was overcome by a fit of coughing, compounded with hopeless laughter.

"God dammit, Jim!" Bones groaned finally, letting his head fall into his hands in exasperation. "Can't do anything by halves."

**

**

The analysis and synthesis of an antidote took only half an hour, which was over a day for Jim. He darted around, occasionally checking the progress of his favourite scientist and the status of the ship. Everything seemed to be in order, however, so he was left with nothing much to do. He decided that the life of a poltergeist was not the life for him.

I'm bored. He wrote on the wall, sounding somewhat petulant. Although it took a while for Spock to reply, the subtle eye rolling was obviously in response to his statement.

Thanks for this, by the way.

Spock just ignored that statement; Jim knew how illogical he viewed the emotion of gratitude, when all he was doing was his job- but Jim continued to say it anyway. He was beginning to run out of wall space when Spock had finished the concoction, finally.

Spock held the antidote and the water sample in his hands with an expression of contemplation that Jim couldn't quite fathom. Then, with a movement that would have been incredibly swift in normal speed but instead looked like he was moving through thick sludge, he downed the water.

"Spock?" Jim squawked, but he didn't stop the movement, even though he had the time to do so. Instead, he hovered at Spock's elbow and waited for him to accelerate.

It took a while, but eventually Spock shuddered his way out of mundane reality and into the higher plane of existence with Jim.

"Ah, Captain... It's good to see you." Spock said formally, but Jim rather ruined the moment with a spontaneous grasp of his upper arms in a firm and steady grip. He was surveyed critically for a moment before being pulled into Jim's embrace.

"It was so hard, Spock... seeing you, unable to communicate with you."

"I believe that didn't stop you trying, Captain." Spock said wryly, leaning into Jim and looping his arms around him.

Jim seemed a little embarrassed by that, but not embarrassed enough to refuse Spock's unspoken request for a repeat performance.

**

**

After ordering maintenance to repair the wall of sickbay where Jim had penned his rude (and, in Bones' mind, entirely baseless) comment, Bones went to visit Spock.

Except that he wasn't there; all the instruments were still whirring, but there was no Vulcan to attend to them. Maybe he was on the bridge?

He jumped back and cursed when he saw Jim materialise into thin air, looking slightly ruffled but very pleased with himself. And- was that a bruise on his neck?

"Jim! What happened? Are you okay?" Bones began fretting, whipping out his instruments. Jim quickly skipped out of reach.

"I assure you, I'm in fine working order," He said brightly. "Spock has done a marvellous job."

Inexplicably, Jim's hair was buffeted by some kind of breeze. McCoy frowned; it looked as though invisible fingers were being drawn through it. It stopped suddenly.

"Er... where's Spock, Jim? He was meant to..."

Just like Jim, Spock flashed into existence, with his usual amount of poise and decorum, as though he jumped through space like that regularly. "As touching as your concern may seem, Dr. McCoy, it is entirely unwarranted. I believe that we have some shore leave to organise, Captain." He had turned to Jim, ignoring Bones' stuttering protests.

Jim smirked. "Right you are, Spock- to the bridge, then. Bones, you might as well ask us all about it now; I can feel the curiosity coming off you in waves."

**

**

"Ah, shore leave... one of the better prerogatives of Starfleet." Jim sighed, stretching his muscles out taut before flopping back on the blanket he'd spread over the grass of the secluded meadow. The sun was only just rising, stripping off the last vestiges of dew with every inch it covered.

Someone was lying next to him in a pose of quiescence, although he still emanated an air of readiness and strength. There was an uncustomary air of carelessness to his manner, some immeasurable relaxation of character, which had changed the way his face showed his emotions. He had eyes only for Jim as he replied in his deep voice, "In that, Captain, I believe we reach an accord."

~ * Finis * ~


End file.
